August 2021 Dividend Stock Purchases

As I'm writing this blog post, there are just four months remaining in this year. This gives me four months to advance my net annual forward dividends from around $1,950 heading into September to $2,200 by the end of this year.

With that aside, I'll take a look at my capital deployment for August 2021 and what stocks I decided to purchase during the month.

As I noted in my previous post of this series, July 2021 marked the last month that there would be any meaningful activity in my retirement account (aside from dividend reinvestment in March, June, September, and December). This is because I recently completed my transition from my day job at my previous employer to being self-employed as a writer for Motley Fool and Seeking Alpha.

That's why I'll be exclusively focusing on the activity within my taxable accounts (and specifically within my Robinhood account).

I started August off by initiating a new position in Medtronic (MDT), which is because I essentially believe that Medtronic is fairly valued and the company has a variety of growth catalysts in the future as I noted in my most recent Motley Fool article on the stock.

I opened a five share position in MDT at an average cost of $127.93, which equates to an average net yield of 1.97% based on the $12.60 in net annual forward dividends added from my purchase.

Next, I added 18 shares of Viatris (VTRS) to my position at an average cost of $14.23 a share, which is an average net yield of 3.09% when considering the $7.92 that was added to my net annual forward dividends due to the purchase.

As I explained in a recent Motley Fool article on VTRS, the company is cheaply valued despite a fundamentally healthy business with tons of room to grow its dividend. These were the key factors that prompted me to add to my position.

The second stock that I initiated a position in during August was Merck (MRK), which is because its blockbuster oncology drug Keytruda secured an FDA approval for advanced renal cell carcinoma. As I detailed in a recent Motley Fool article on MRK, the stock has multiple vehicles for growth in the years ahead (i.e., Keytruda, HPV vaccine Gardasil, and its animal health business) and trades at a cheap valuation considering its growth prospects.

This led me to initiate a seven share position in MRK at an average cost of $78.79 a share, which works out to a 3.3% net yield when factoring in the $18.20 in net annual forward dividends that these purchases added to my portfolio.

I also purchased an additional share of J.M. Smucker (SJM) in August at a cost of $132.74, which is a 2.98% net yield given the $3.96 in net annual forward dividends that were added from my purchase.

SJM's recent 10% dividend increase and reasonable valuation were the two main reasons why I opted to add to my position.

I added one share of Amgen (AMGN) during August at a cost of $225.49, which was due to the stock's recent pullback and decent operating results as I outlined in a recent Motley Fool article.

This works out to a 3.12% net yield when considering the $7.04 in net annual forward dividends that were added as a result of my purchase.

I also added a share to my position in National Retail Properties (NNN) at a cost of $46.80. I noted in a recent Motley Fool article that I like the stock because of its focus on single-tenant triple net lease REITS, diversified portfolio, and fair valuation.

Considering the $2.12 in net annual forward dividends that this purchase added to my portfolio, my net yield was 4.53%.

I also decided to add a couple shares to my position in KeyCorp (KEY) at an average cost of $19.65 a share. This works out to a net yield of 3.77% given the $1.48 in net annual forward dividends that were added to my portfolio from the purchase.

Finally, I added two shares of Dominion Energy (D) to my portfolio at an average cost of $79.77 a share. I was impressed by D's strong start to this year and sensible valuation as I noted in a recent Seeking Alpha article.

This equates to a net yield of 3.16% when considering the $5.04 in net annual forward dividends that this purchase added to my dividend portfolio.

Concluding Thoughts:

I invested $2,051.12 in August and added $58.36 to my portfolio's net annual forward dividends, which works out to a net yield of 2.85%.

When also considering the $10.954 in net annual forward dividends that were added from dividend increases in August, my portfolio's net annual forward dividends surged from just under $1,880 at the start of August to about $1,950 heading into September.

Discussion:

How was your August in terms of capital deployment?

Did you add any new positions during the month as I did with my purchases of MDT and MRK?

I appreciate your readership and welcome your comments in the comment section below!